AR Ramblings

Matt mentioned in a blog post that he estimated the total elevation gain of the BMT to be around 50,000 feet.  That is a big number.  Spreading it across almost 300 miles helps, but that is still a hell of a lot of climbing.

Today, it occurred to me that the KML file I used to create my GPS tracking map also contained elevation for each of the points.  I hacked up a quick script to parse all 12,000+ data points and add up the cumulative gain.  After triple-checking the logic in my script, I felt this really, really terrible sinking feeling in my gut.  I just stared at the screen in disbelief.

:~/Desktop/BMT$ ./calc_elevation.pl
Total gain = 22325.804708 meters : 73247.3908856141 feet

In my past experience, GPS units have had notoriously large margins of error when it comes to elevation readings.  I can only hope that a little bit of that error is inflating the result.  If not, this might take a little longer than I have originally estimated!

Matt posted up his incredibly light, home-made kit over at his blog.

See below for my slightly heavier commercial one. (listed top to bottom, and left to right)

• compass + maps (TI Ocoee, GSMNP) + BMT databook
• 13L Ultra-Sil dry sack
• Patagonia R1 fleece pullover
• thermal hat
• 1 extra socks
• lightweight hammock – for comfy sleeping
• Salomon Raid 30 backpack w/
  • SPOT GPS tracker
  • Ultimate Direction water bladder w/Sawyer inline water filter and CamelBak bite valve – carrying a 128oz bladder, but will probably only ever fill it halfway.
  • Photon Micro-light – emergency light source attached to backpack shoulder strap; good for replacing headlamp batteries in the middle of the night
  • 2x 20 oz. water bottles – one for drink mixes and one for filling the bladder
  • mini-biner + masons twine – for bear bag / food hanging kit (not sure if I’ll use this, but it weighs next to nothing)
  • folding knife w/ whistle attached – the whistle is yellow and makes it easier to find the black knife if I drop it.
• Petzl Myo XP headlamp w/lithium batteries (3 sets) – lithiums are not recommended by Petzl, but I’ve never had issues.  I usually only run low or medium brightness, though, never on high.
• Medkit / toiletries  (see below for contents)
• waterproof notepad & pencil
• GoLite Poncho/Tarp – shelter & rain gear combined

• space blanket
• ClO2 water purification – backup, in case the filter clogs
• antihistimine
• ibuprophen
• anti-diarrhoeal
• sunscreen
• tweezers
• needle
• gauze pad, gauze wrap, tape
• lighter
• cover roll & Leukotape (good for blisters)
• alcohol swaps
• antibacterial ointment
• toothbrush
• Sportslick – for chaffing
• emerg fire starter (cotton ball + petroleum jelly)
• garbage bag (multiple uses)
• bug spray

• HeadSweats visor
• GoLite shorts
• Capilene T-shirt
• Brooks Racer ST shoes
• Sunnto Vector watch

TOTAL WEIGHT: approximately 7 lbs.  (including ~0.5 lb for the SPOT tracker)

.

I just finished packing food for the BMT speedpacking adventure and the stats are in: 12.5 pounds and 21,000 calories.  That only works out to 1,680 calories per pound, which is a little lower than I was hoping, but I know that I have some quality stuff in there, and more importantly, stuff that I know I will still want be able to eat after several strenuous days on the trail.

Almost 40% of my calories will be coming from the new Caffe Latte flavored Perpetuem.  Yes, it REALLY is that good!

The rest of the calories will be comprised of various solid foods and a few bars.  I tried to strike a balance between finding items with relatively high-quality ingredients and tastyness, but with tastyness receiving a slightly higher priority.  The average intensity of this effort will be much lower than most other events, so I should be able to digest foods that just wouldn’t work for something shorter (24-48hrs).

I briefly considered an all liquid nutrition plan, but I could be out there for up to a week and prefer to supplement with solid foods during really long efforts.

Here is a list of what is in the bags, for those who are interested:

• Caffe Latte Perpetuem (the most important of all!)
• Organic Toaster pastries (aka pop-tarts)
• Bear Naked granola
• Snyders multigrain pretzel sticks
• Snyders pretzel pieces (BBQ flavored)
• Trail mix (whole grain wheat thins, raw almonds, cranberries)
• pre-cooked bacon (2 pkgs)
• freeze-dried pastas (3 pkgs)
• a few slices of bread
• Bear Valley MealPack (natural energy bars)
• Kashi cereal bars
• Genisoy protein bars
• Luna bars
• Ginger chews (spicy apple flavored)